This invention relates to a toner cartridge used for a developing device in which an electrostatic image is formed on a photoreceptor drum by an electrophotographic recording system or an electrostatic recording system.
Generally speaking, an image recording device in which an electrostatic image is utilized for copying an image, such as an electrophotographic copier or an electrostatic recording device, forms an electrostatic image on a photoreceptor, makes the image visible with toner by a developing device, transfers the toner image to a recording paper, and fuses it to obtain a recorded image. After the image on the photoreceptor drum has been transferred to a recording paper, residual electric charge on the drum is eliminated by a neutralizing electrode and residual toner on the drum is removed by a cleaning unit.
In the developing device mentioned above, about 70 percent of the toner supplied from a toner container is used for developing and the remaining 30 percent is removed from the drum by the cleaning unit and collected in a collecting container. If the toner supplying container and the toner collecting container are separately installed, a large-sized developing device is needed, and in addition, when the toner supplying container is replaced, an operator sometimes forgets to replace the toner collecting container as he is not aware that it is full of collected toner. In this case, the collected toner overflows the container and soils the surroundings.
As a countermeasure against this, a one body type container which consists of a toner supplying container and a collected toner container, separated by a partition board, is conventionally used. For instance, refer to Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection No. 146171/1981.
The conventional toner container shown in FIG. 8, a schematic illustration, has a vertical pratition board 83 to separate the toner supplying container 81 from the collected toner container 82. Because the toner 85, which is poured from the upper opening 84 mounted on the top of the collected toner container 82, gradually piles up from the bottom to the top, a space 86 is formed which cannot be completely filled by the toner 85. Accordingly, the amount of toner held in the collected toner container fluctuates, and sometimes the toner overflows from the container before the periodic container replacement time comes.
An object of this invention is to solve the problems explained above. In other words, it is an object of the invention to provide a toner cartridge of a copier in which the amount of collected toner in a toner container is stabilized.